


a life worth living

by Lint



Series: escape [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-02-01 00:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12693288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lint/pseuds/Lint
Summary: “Do you want to go back?” Veronica reiterates. “To Riverdale.”





	a life worth living

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for the confusion, but after some thought I felt that this works better as a second story rather than a chapter.

The bell above the door rings, but Betty is too focused on her task to pay it much mind, giving a cursory glance toward the potential customer.

 

“Good afternoon and welcome to Book World,” she greets, though her eyes return to the computer screen. “If you have any questions, I can be with you in just a minute.”

 

She's entering in the zip code of a package ready to ship, one click away from postage due, when the customer approaches the counter.

 

“Betty.”

 

Her breath catches, the instantly recognizable voice that has said her name a thousand times over since they were children, saying it again in the here and now.

 

“Oh my god,” she utters softly, before turning to see that familiar redheaded boy waiting for her reply with anxious eyes. “Oh my god,” she says again, quickly running around the counter and practically throwing herself into his arms.

 

He squeezes back with all the intensity she gives, the two of them just taking each other in after so much time apart, her forehead falling naturally between his neck and shoulder. She almost doesn't want to talk, to ruin the moment, it feeling so pure any words would surely do that. They come eventually, in the form of questions, so many generating in her mind as to how he found her. Does anyone else know? Does her mother?

 

“Whoa Betty,” Archie detracts with a laugh. “No, your mom still doesn't know where you went. Neither does your dad, or Veronica's parents.”

 

Betty nods against him, taking in a shaky breath. When she and Veronica ran away from Riverdale, it was strictly to get away from the Black Hood. At least, that's what it felt like at first. But the longer they stayed in this cozy little mountain town, the more it felt like the escape was from so much more. The pressures of being a perfect daughter, student, or citizen. The weight of expectation pushing down on her shoulders until the water finally rose above her head.

 

“How did you find us?” She asks more calmly, pulling back to see his face.

 

His grin is marred only by self depreciation.

 

“Would you believe good old fashioned detective work?” he asks earnestly.

 

The thought is so ridiculous it makes her smile, one he easily mirrors, as she pulls back a little further but keeps her wrists crossed at the back of his neck.

 

“Not for a second,” she replies.

 

His eyes narrow, and she figures he's contemplating on just telling her, but the Archie Andrews she knows and loves is probably sworn to secrecy and doesn't want to go back on his word. It only takes a moment for her to realize who it could have been. Only one person in the world knows exactly where she and Veronica are, and Archie no doubt asked her repeatedly to the point where she finally broke down and told him, if only to get the barrage of begging to know to stop.

 

“Polly?” she offers evenly.

 

His nod is expected, and she matches it instantly.

 

“Don't be mad at her,” he insists. “I wouldn't take no for an answer, and really, I think she kind of hates me now because of that.”

 

Betty smiles so wide her cheeks burn.

 

“Oh little Archie,” she laughs. “How could anyone hate you?”

 

He pulls her close again and she lets him, thankful that hardly anyone ever comes inside the store, wanting to bask in this moment as long as possible.

 

“Betty?” he asks after awhile. “About Jughead-”

 

“Don't,” she cuts him off.

 

“But-”

 

“Please, Arch. Just don't.”

 

She knows what he's going to say. She'd left before any kind of confirmation but knew deep down, that with Jughead's disappearance in a town where a serial killer was running rampant, there was only one way his story ended. Found face down in Sweetwater River two weeks after she and Veronica were gone, with seventeen stab wounds across his body. Tears well, she fighting and failing to keep them from falling, as her hands clench at the jacket he wears.

 

“I'm sorry,” he offers quietly. “I didn't mean to make you-”

“It's okay,” she's quick to assure, pulling out his embrace, and wiping at her cheeks. “We really need to catch up, but I'm not off for another few hours. Veronica should be at Mom's, if you want to go look for her.”

 

“Mom's?” Archie questions.

 

“The diner across the street,” she informs with a point toward the door, which he casts a quick glance at, then looks back to her.

 

“Go on,” she insists. “I know for a fact she'll be happy to see you.”

 

He hesitates, as if the act of walking out that door will guarantee she won't be here upon his return, and for that she moves to place a kiss on his cheek.

 

“It's okay,” she insists. “You found me. I'm not going to run again.”

 

“Alright,” he replies, touching the spot where her lips were, backing down the aisle and not turning around until he bumps right into the door. The bell rings on his exit, and Betty doesn't bother to fight the tears that come as she watches him walk across the street.

 

/\

 

Veronica is five pages into her college application essay, and unavoidably stuck as to how to carry on with the goals of her life, when escaping the terror of a serial killer is number one with a bullet. Every other accomplishment she wishes to achieve just appear small and shallow in comparison. The privileged little rich girl wanting to earn her place in the world, seems a cliched narrative, even for a state school.

 

“Is this seat taken?”

 

She's about to tell the would be Romeo the diner is half empty, and there's plenty of other seats he can plant his rather forward behind in, when her eyes lift from the laptop and lock onto her favorite flavor of orange.

 

Hands lift to her mouth, masking the gasp with shaking fingers, as she rises from the booth to wrap her arms around him.

 

“What are you doing here?” she can't help to ask.

 

“You didn't think you could hide forever, did you?” comes his reply, as he hugs back.

 

“No,” she admits, shaking her head against his chest. “But we sure were gonna try.”

 

She basks in his hold a moment longer, before prying herself loose and pushing him back.

 

“Okay, okay. We're making a spectacle of ourselves.”

 

Archie chuckles.

 

“The Veronica I remember didn't mind being the center of attention,” he responds.

 

She rolls her eyes.

 

“Yes, well. This town is even smaller than Riverdale in terms of gossip. A low profile is the smart play when you're in seclusion.”

 

Archie slides easily into the opposite side of the booth, and Veronica retakes her seat as well.

 

“Dare I ask how you found us?” she inquires, shooting him a very serious look.

 

Archie reaches for the salt shaker, biding time by sliding it back and forth between his hands, finally keeping it in his left.

 

“I might have,” he begins, spinning the shaker in place. “Hounded Betty's sister until she broke down and told me.”

 

Veronica nods her acceptance, it a perfectly reasonable answer.

 

“But no one else knew where you were going right?” she can't help to ask. “No one looking for us maybe followed you?”

 

“No,” Archie is quick to soothe her worries. “Not your dad. Not Betty's mom. No one.”

 

Veronica lets out a shaking breath.

 

“Good,” she says softly, more to herself than to him. “And the Hood? I assume he was brought to justice, otherwise you wouldn't be here.”

 

Archie looks down at the table.

 

“Sort of,” he offers vaguely.

 

Veronica's brow furrows.

 

“What does that mean?”

 

He plays with the lid of the salt shaker.

 

“Serpents got him,” he replies. “And all I could do was watch.”

 

For Jughead? She wonders. They always did brag about taking care of their own.

 

“You sound so disappointed,” Veronica jabs. “Regret not pulling the trigger yourself?”

 

Archie sniffs sharply.

 

“Kind of.”

 

Veronica just shakes her head.

 

“No matter how much you think that monster may have deserved it, you're not a killer. I don't believe for a second you would have done what you think you could have, because if I did? I wouldn't bother having this conversation with you now.”

 

Archie smirks.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing,” he asserts. “I just... Forgot how pushy you can be.”

 

Veronica laughs.

 

“Does Betty know you're here?”

 

Archie nods.

 

“She told me where to look for you.”

 

It makes no sense, the small ping inside her chest that Archie found Betty first, that the years of friendship between them will always leave her feeling on the outside looking in. Because things are different now. She's closer to Betty than he ever dared to be. Still, jealously however misguided, flashes its green eyes at her emotions.

 

“Did she?” Veronica starts, but stops, unsure how to broach the subject. “Did she tell you-”

 

“Tell me what?”

 

“That we,” she starts to trip over her own words. “That she's-”

 

Archie looks confused.

 

“She's what?”

 

Mine, Veronica's mind all but shouts. She's mine, mine, mine and I'm never giving her back. Not to you. Not to Jughead, _que Dios decanse su alma._ We made something of our life here, and I will not let that go because the old one is safe again.

 

“In love,” Veronica manages to finish. “With me.”

 

Archie knocks over the salt shaker.

 

“We only talked a few minutes,” he replies, somewhat stunned. “But no. That didn't come up.”

 

Veronica takes a deep breath.

 

“Not that it matters,” she begins. “But is that, I mean, is it something you're okay with?”

 

Archie flushes.

 

“Of course,” he's quick to say. “I mean, why wouldn't I be? You're both so, so important to me, and what kind of jerk would that make me if I said no?”

 

Tears form in her eyes.

 

“Oh Archiekins,” she sighs. “It's good to see you again.”

 

He reaches across the table to take her hands in his.

 

“Right back at you, Ronnie.”

 

/\

 

They're sitting on the couch in Betty and Veronica's apartment, all three of them, under the pretense of watching a movie. Veronica certainly isn't paying it much attention, curled up against Betty's side, with their arms looped together. Archie isn't either, casting sideways glances at them more than a few times. Though she knows he's only curious, it's one thing to inform that she and Betty are together now, and another entirely to see it in practice. But, for whatever reason, it brings about the selfish brat inside and she feels the needs to show him how much Betty belongs to her.

 

Betty laughs at something, and both Veronica and Archie look back to the television immediately, faking their own laughter to carry with hers. He didn't come all this way to just bring them back, she knows that deep down. He loves them both. Missed them both. He just wanted to see for himself that they were okay. But there's still a fear that a return to Riverdale is exactly his intention.

 

Betty laughs again, and Veronica presses a small kiss against her arm, something Archie catches notice of and offers a small grin.

 

A flush creeps into her cheeks, realizing how ridiculous she's being, and playfully kicks at Archie's leg. His head turns toward her fully, a soft apology offered to him in the form of a smile, and acceptance given when he returns it.

 

/\

 

“Do you want to go back?”

 

It must be two in the morning when Veronica asks the question, neither she nor Betty able to sleep from the event of the day, the two of them cuddled up in bed but staring blankly into the dark.

 

“What?”

 

“Do you want to go back?” Veronica reiterates. “To Riverdale.”

 

Betty shifts so that they face each other, one hand lifting to Veronica's cheek, the brunette leaning into the touch so easily. The urge to kiss her until this inevitable conversation falls to the wayside, makes the hairs stand on the back of her neck, but Veronica does not let that happen through sheer will.

 

“Why would I want to do that?” Betty asks.

 

It's not the answer Veronica expects, and because of that, assumes Betty only gives it because she thinks it's what she wants to hear.

 

“Because the Hood is dead,” she offers up. “You know, the whole reason we made our last escape in the first place?” She sighs. “Because it's home.”

 

“Yes,” Betty concedes. “And it always will be. But in case you haven't been paying attention, I like our life here.”

 

Our life.

 

Veronica's body warms at the sentiment.

 

“And yeah the main reason we left got resolved, but Ronnie, didn't we run from so much more than that?”

 

Veronica lets out a slow breath.

 

“Yes.”

 

“So sure, our lives would no longer be in physical danger, but everything we have here? With each other? Do you really think we'd get to keep it in Riverdale?”

 

“No,” Veronica replies honestly.

 

“Exactly. So why, Ronnie darling, do you think I'd be so willing to give that up just because Archie found us and gave the all clear?”

 

Embarrassment swirls in Veronica's stomach.

 

“I don't know,” she admits.

 

Betty shifts to kiss her.

 

“Silly girl,” she teases. “Didn't we make a vow? About letting no boy come between us?”

 

Veronica laughs, before moving in for another kiss.

 

“Archie is out there,” Betty carries on. “Sleeping on our couch. In our apartment. A visitor in the life we made together. There is no going back from this.”

 

It's absurd, Veronica thinks. How the mere presence of Archie Andrews sent her emotions into a spiral of unwarranted insecurity. Here she is, thinking only in terms of me and mine, when that sweet boy would never try to take anything that didn't belong to him.

 

And here Betty is, using nothing but terms of we, us, and ours.

 

“I love you,” Veronica offers softly.

 

Betty kisses her again.

 

“Love you, too.”

 

One more.

 

“And don't worry so much, okay? We're good here.”

 

Yes, Veronica thinks. _We_ certainly are.

 

 


End file.
